A stirring case awaits "Tatort" detective Leonie Winkler (Cornelia Gröschel) and her boss Peter Michael Schnabel (Martin Brambach) during their first investigation as a duo. It is the middle of the night when 16-year-old Lilly-Marie (Dilara Aylin Ziem) and her boyfriend Pascal (Florian Geißelmann) run away from the "Siebenschläfer" dormitory. They flee to a lake in the forest.
Night-time escape ends fatally
Tutor Jasmin Hoffmann (Aysha Joy Samuel), the only person on duty that night to supervise the 20 or so children and teenagers, finds the 16-year-old's room empty. A search is unsuccessful. When Pascal wakes up alone the next morning, Lilly is dead. From a distance, the 17-year-old observes the police forensics team recovering her body from the lake. He is overcome with fear and disappears.
The "Tatort" crime thriller "Siebenschläfer" airs this Sunday at 8.15 pm on Ersten. After the departure of her colleague Karin Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski), Winkler investigates alone with her boss Schnabel for the first time.
Pascal keeps losing control
It quickly becomes clear that 17-year-old Pascal is always causing problems. He is considered difficult and aggressive. The psychiatrist treating him describes him as severely traumatized and relationship-disordered. That's why he, like other children at the home, is treated with pills to calm him down and make him "friendlier".
He keeps losing control of his emotions. When his former governess rejects him in a desperate search for a place to stay, he grabs the woman and chokes her to unconsciousness.
The "Siebenschläfer" - a model home?
At first glance, the "Siebenschläfer" home appears exemplary to the investigators: an old villa with large rooms, surrounded by extensive grounds with a playground. Even ponies are kept there. But doubts creep into Schnabel's mind from the very first visit.
The children and teenagers who live there have not had an easy life so far. The youth welfare office separated Lilly from her mother after her new partner watched porn with the girl. Her boyfriend Pascal was taken into the care of the authorities after his mother left him alone at the age of four.
The 17-year-old finds it difficult to gain trust, but Schnabel nevertheless finds a connection with the teenager. During the conversation, it becomes clear how hopeless his situation seems to him. "Sometimes I think it's just not going to work out for me," he tells the police officer. "I'm too stupid for anything." When the youth welfare officer Torsten Hess (Peter Moltzen) is found dead, it is suspected that Pascal has once again lost control.
Suspense right to the end
The story remains exciting and entertaining right to the end. The convincing performance by up-and-coming actor Florian Geißelmann in particular captivates the audience. A recurring theme runs through the film: money and staff are scarce on all sides, and children and young people are suffering the most.
The situation is no better for the police: the successor for the Dresden investigative team is a long time coming, as the selected candidate cancels at short notice because she can't find a place in a daycare center for her child.
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